Quang Binh my hometown

(QBĐT) - I heard the name Dong Hoi since 1955, when I was only 7 years old and the photo my father gave to my mother, sent to Thanh Hoa , taken in Dong Hoi, was written: Dong Hoi, Spring At Mui 1955. At that time, my father was in the army and stationed in Dong Hoi town.

Therefore, I have loved the song Quang Binh, my homeland since it was born (1964) and sung by Meritorious Artist Kim Oanh (1966) and since then, I have loved Quang Binh as the frontline of the North. That's it, in the old days of 1955, there was no statue of Mother Suot, there was not even the poem Mother Suot by To Huu, but much later, when the poem Mother Suot appeared in the world, I kept humming: Listening to mother tell stories of the old days/Chang chang sand dunes in the midday sun of Quang Binh . At that time, there was no novel The Sorrow of War by writer Bao Ninh. I did not even know where General Vo Nguyen Giap was from.

Until I learned more about Quang Binh, Quang Binh was already towering over the Central region with its unique and impressive features. Writers and poets such as Lam Thi My Da, Do Hoang, Ngo Minh, and Hoang Vu Thuat... I thought they were portraits of Hue . It turns out, they were from Quang Binh.

At the foot of the statue of Mother Suot.

But since 2014 I returned to Quang Binh, singing with you on the white sand dunes of autumn, I fell in love with Quang Binh with writer Huu Phuong, as sincere as the grains of sand of Quang Binh on the shore of Nhat Le, and then I appeared in Nhat Le Magazine with a small and pretty collection of poems as a matter of course, but if there was no writer Huu Phuong, how could there be me with Nhat Le Magazine, even though it was so far away.

Quang Binh, my hometown , I have loved that song for a long time, associated with the youth of our generation in the 20th century fighting against America to save the country. But years ago, during the war, my friend went to the front, and I went to college. There were 40 people in my class when I entered school, and on the day I graduated, I was the class monitor, and only 10 people were called, the rest went to war, and many did not return. My friend from Quang Binh, when he left for the battlefield, he sang Quang Binh, my hometown , but then he stayed in Quang Tri, carrying with him the song that he would never sing again.

But I didn't know, Quang Binh also had someone who composed a song whose name I don't remember, I only vaguely heard "... Goodbye my love, wave goodbye to the beloved coastal city..." , I thought he was from Hai Phong but no, he was from Quang Binh, at that time, he had to hide his name. He was truly respectable and at one time Vietnamese literature went one way, people only wrote about war literature without thinking that the diversity of literature was the foundation for a brilliant literature development. But I, at that time, was not qualified enough in literary theory to judge right or wrong.

Hoang Vu Thuat, is that you? No. The song " The Sailor's Heart" is by Hoang Van, but the author's name is Ha Nhat (real name is Luong Duy Can). The poem was first published in the newspaper under the name Mai Liem (Ha Nhat did not dare to sign his name but had to use the names of his two younger siblings, Mai and Liem). In a miserable time, because of writing love poems, Ha Nhat was accused of having petty bourgeois ideology. So much so that when the song was sung by Quy Duong, he was not invited to the Provincial Party Committee hall to watch.

Quang Binh is a small province (47th in population in the country), but Quang Binh gave birth to Vo Nguyen Giap, one of the ten best generals in the world...

Quang Binh is as small as the palm of your hand, but Quang Binh has the largest cave complex in the world. Likewise, Poland is as small as the palm of your hand compared to the world, but Poland has had six Nobel Prize winners, the oldest being in Chemistry, the latest being in Literature.

Quang Binh, my hometown ... It's been more than 10 years since that day, in 2014, I returned to Dong Hoi, the night of Nhat Le moon rising... the white sand was hazy, the sky, land and sea were like poetry. I understood Quang Binh at that time very vaguely.

Today I returned, the tall buildings rose up along the ocean, the five-star villas, the luxurious restaurants along the white sand. The land of Bao Ninh, Mother Suot's homeland, is different from before. Bao Ninh, I just found out now, is more beautiful, more touristy and also richer, although the coconut trees are still coconut trees, the sand is still sand. The tall buildings are reflected in the sparkling starry night sky. The green coconut trees and white sand are also different from before, more exposed to the sun, rain, and storms, but also more worldly. The statue of Mother Suot is reflected in the sky of Nhat Le, shining brightly in the autumn sun.

Even though the festival is still crowded, there is still a lot of fresh fish, but the fish is different. The fish is fresher, tastier. The bell tower of Tam Toa church is still the same, ancient and covered with moss... Dong Hoi now, the day I return, Quang Binh Quan is also different from the past... History adds another page, the mountains and rivers have changed, even though I return now, the name is still the same, Quang Binh Quan.

Quang Binh, I just now know, although the flood is a loss, next year there will be more alluvium, the crops will be more bountiful. Now I know, in the loss there is gain...

In November 2024, I returned to Quang Binh. The new Secretary of the Quang Binh Provincial Party Committee, Le Ngoc Quang, former General Director of Vietnam Television, warmly welcomed me, even though he had just become the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee with a mountain of work to deal with. I shared about the difficulties caused by storm No. 3, the poor households... He immediately said: Thank you, that is our job. Writer, please talk about the advantages of Quang Binh, the world-famous tourist destination of Quang Binh so that international investors and international tourists who intend to come will come more, what solutions are there to help them come faster.

Chairman of the Quang Binh Literature and Arts Association Phan Dinh Tien happily invited the new Provincial Party Secretary Le Ngoc Quang and me to the bank of the Nhat Le River to take photos at the foot of the Mother Suot monument. I asked Phan Dinh Tien: Who is the author of the Mother Suot monument? Phan Dinh Tien proudly pointed to his chest: I am. And Le Ngoc Quang was so surprised, he said: Great, let's go to the bank of the Nhat Le River to take photos next to the Mother Suot monument with the author of the monument. And the unique and impressive photos were taken just 30 minutes later.

My hometown Quang Binh, spring is coming! Nhat Le beach lights up with new projects. Quang Binh is opening, tourists are coming to welcome spring with festivals. Party congresses at all levels are being urgently prepared for the new year 2025... Everything is spring!

Le Tuan Loc

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/dat-va-nguoi-quang-binh/202501/quang-binh-que-ta-oi-2223992/